|
 Dear
Friends:
This
past month, my thoughts have been widely
focused toward some of the significant
projects that I talked about in the
previous update written for January
2014. While ambitious for the next few
years, reality has to then set in, and
the daily work of seeing what can
actually be accomplished in human time
makes you realize that things might take
a little longer than expected!
The
Wednesday Night
Bible Study continues through
the Epistle to the Romans, with me
presently (07 Feb) in the process of
completing my commentary on ch. 7. So,
the Romans study is almost half-way
completed—but we are about to enter into
those areas of the letter, like chs.
9-11 or ch. 14, which have some
“complicated passages” for today’s
Messianic people. This means that there
will not only be some areas where I will
need to think long and hard, and inquire
of the Lord what needs to be said—but
that I will most especially be sorting
through various opinions and
perspectives which need to be brought to
our attention.
For the immediate future this year, I
will be coordinating the production of
the
Messianic Kosher
Helper book—which is going to
be
much bigger than I
originally thought! Part I of the book,
“The Significance of Kosher,” with three
chapters still in process, is almost the
size of our
Messianic Winter
Holiday Helper. Part II of
the book, “A Theology of Eating and
Kosher,” which really will set this
publication apart, is at present about
175 pages. This is where a long list of
Bible passages, that involve eating, the
kosher dietary laws, and their relevance
are being addressed. This is also where
there has been a widescale Messianic
avoidance to detail, and where various
leaders and teachers have been flat
caught ignoring verses of the Bible,
either informing readers about the topic
of the dietary laws, or passages which
may seem to disparage the dietary laws
in some way. Regardless of what the
specific circumstances are, here is the
list of kosher-related passages (46
total) I am presently working through:
Genesis 1:29-30*
Genesis 2:16-17*
Genesis 7:1-2*
Genesis 9:2-4*
Leviticus 11
Leviticus 20:22-26
Deuteronomy 14
Exodus 23:19; 34:26*
Genesis 18:1-15*
Genesis 32:24-32*
Leviticus 3:17; 7:26-27; 19:26
Deuteronomy 12:16-24
Judges 13:4-7
1 Samuel 14:31-34
Isaiah 65:1-15
Isaiah 66:15-17
Ezekiel 4:9-17
Ezekiel 8:5-13
Ezekiel 22:23-31
Ezekiel 44:23-24
Hosea 9:1-4
Daniel 1:8
Ecclesiastes 2:24; 3:13; 5:18; 9:7
Matthew 5:17-19
Mark 7:1-23; Matthew 15:1-20
Mark 5:1-20; Matthew 8:28-34; Luke
8:26-39
Matthew 13:47-50
Luke 11:37-41
Acts 10:1-48
Acts 11:1-18
Acts 15:19-21
Romans 14
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
1 Corinthians 8
1 Corinthians 10:14-33
1 Corinthians 11:17-24
2 Corinthians 6:14-18
Galatians 2:11-14
Philippians 3:17-19*
Colossians 2:16-23*
1 Timothy 4:1-5*
Titus 1:14-16*
Hebrews 9:8-10
Hebrews 13:9-10
1 Peter 1:14-16
Revelation 2:14
I
have placed an asterisk* by each of the
passages I have already addressed (07
Feb). The level of analysis of these
passages, while not overly-extensive, is
similar to what is seen in TNN Press
publications like
The New Testament
Validates Torah. And, if you did not notice it already, while
most of these passages average at about
half-a-dozen verses or so, some of them
are complete chapters of Scripture. The
present book file for the
Messianic Kosher Helper is 355 pages, but it will easily exceed 500.
Even
though what I have described might seem
a bit overwhelming in terms of the
volume—and I have had a few days when I
have almost
burned
out—kosher is not an
issue upon which my faith, nor should
anyone’s faith, rise or fall. But it is
an issue which has many different
components and avenues needing to be
thoroughly explored and addressed. While
many of these include Bible passages
like “whose god is
their
appetite” (Philippians 3:19), there are
also important aspects regarding all of
the proposed reasons for kosher (i.e.,
health, avoidance of idolatry for
Ancient Israel), as well as issues
pertaining to bioethics and genetic
engineering to be considered. Very few
people in the broad Messianic movement
would give a topic like kosher such an
examination.
Please continue to keep us in your
prayers. Your monthly support is greatly
needed as we plow new fields of
Messianic theology and apologetics!
Until next month…
J.K. McKee
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